More specifically, this turkey: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocellated_turkey
An Imperial Match: Anne Boleyn marries Charles V
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
It is very pretty! Much prettier than the turkeys we have here, all brown and dull.
Unless he still followed the second part of his OTL life/career he is Francesc (or maybe Francisco) de Borja, Duque of Gandia (when his father will die) or whatever titl will get before that and nothing else
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24th of August, 1528.
Ludlow Castle, Welsh Marches. 24th of August, 1528.
John bit his tongue as he held tightly onto the quill, attempting to follow his tutor's instructions and copy both the text and its translation in his journal. He was having a Latin lesson, and Latin was a language. A language which was very important for him to learn, because he was going to be King one day and Latin was the language of the Lord and the Lord had to speak to him as He spoke to his father and tell him what to do in regards to England.
England was his country and he was going to be her king someday, when his lord father ascended to Heaven, but Lady Willow said this would not happen for many and many years yet. John hoped it would never happen because he loved his father and he would be very very sad if his papa left England for Heaven.
Lady Willow said his mother was in Heaven. Not Mother Isabella, the only mother he knew and whom he loved dearly, but Mother Catherine who gave birth to him and to his twin sister, Katherine. Kathy had died as did Mother Catherine when John was too young to remember. Sometimes, he was sad about it, especially because he thought it would be very fun to have a twin, but most of the time, he didn't really mind it.
This was his life. It had always been his life. He knew no other life. In fact, John could barely even remember his older sister Marie and she wasn't dead. She was only living in France, because she was going to marry their future king and had to stay there. For some reason. He missed her, or he missed having an older sister, because now he was the eldest whenever he went home and he had to be… elderly.
John thought of marriage as he wrote about a story from the old times, about a man named Julius Caesar who did many things in a place called Rome. His papa said he was going to marry a princess from Portugal, and Mama said she was born in Portugal and that it was a great land full of great princesses.
Papa said Infanta Manuela was going to be his wife and he gave him a portrait of a little girl with red curls and a similarly red dress. John didn't think she looked wifely. She was a baby and younger than him by three years! Even Teddy was older than her and John's brother was a real baby. So baby he couldn't even wear breeches yet, or have lessons with his tutors. Why would he want a wife that couldn't wear breeches? That was silly.
His tutor stopped beside him. "Your Highness, pay attention please," he said. John bit his lip, noticing how tightly the quill was clenched in his hand and tried to relax, nodding.
"Yes, Master Pole," John said, returning his eyes to his study. He heard Harry Brandon snickering behind him and his cheeks flush at the sound of him whispering in Hal Courtenay's ear.
John was still blushing furiously when their lessons ended and he and the other boys were led to the dining hall by Lady Willow for their midday meal. Charlie Howard walked beside him, face pale after Master Pole chastised him for his mistakes and the two friends did not talk at all.
John was, at six, rather big for his age. The physician at Ludlow said he was over four feet tall and that he might grow to surpass his father in height, which was funny, because Father was the biggest, largest man in all of England. Whenever he picked up John in his arms, he felt as if he was on top of the world.
But while John was tall, Charlie was not. He was short and skinny, with a hooked nose that Harry Brandon liked to laugh about, calling him a parrot. John didn't even know what a parrot was, but he knew Charlie did not like Harry's teasing and that made him angry.
What made him even more angry was when they were crossing a rather empty corridor, Charlie gasped behind him, shoved forward. John turned around to see what had happened and saw as Harry Brandon brought his hands back with a smug smile.
"Boys!" said Lady Willow, turning to see what had happened, but John did not pay attention to her. Instead, he saw when Harry walked around Charlie, with Hal snickering behind him.
"You walk too slow!" Harry exclaimed, looking at Charlie, who was still on the ground.
John sighed and bent down, offering his friend a hand. Charlie accepted it and he helped him stand up, adjusting his blue doublet and breeches as Charlie rubbed his chin with a sore-looking face.
When his friend finally smiled at him in thanks, John turned to Harry, who had gone back to walking about as if nothing had happened.
"Say you're sorry, Lincoln," John murmured. Harry turned to him.
"No," he answered. "My maman said it's a terrible thing to lie."
John stomped his feet. "My maman said it's a terrible thing to hurt your friends, so say you're sorry!" he demanded.
"Boys," Lady Willow murmured, sounding tired, "Let us all calm down and solve this rationally."
"Charlie is not my friend!" Harry shrieked. "I'm not friends with ugly idiots like him!"
"Charlie is not ugly!" John shot back. "He's my best friend and you can't say those bad words about him!"
"Yes, I can," Harry responded. He crossed his arms, looking very pleased with himself. "What will you do about it?"
John took a deep breath, shaking with anger, before answered, "This!"
With his two stretched arms, John shoved at Harry's shoulders and watched him fall to the ground with a loud thud. He shrieked and Lady Willow gasped, even when Harry brought his hands back to catch himself and he stared at John with anger in his eyes.
"You can't do that!" said Harry. "My uncle is the King! He will be very cross with you!"
Charlie, emboldened by John's support, stepped forward, but John did not let him say anything, "The King is my father, you idiot," he answered, "And the King won't let a meany like you win!"
"Boys!" Lady Willow said again in a loud and stern voice. John straightened up at the sound of it, looking up at his old governess as she came to grab his hand. "What sort of behaviour is this, from a future king and a future duke? Cousins at that?" She shook her head. "I don't think either of you deserve leisure time this afternoon. No, I don't." She tugged at John's hand. "Now, come on. We are late for our midday meal and afterwards, both of you will return to your rooms and stay there save for lessons and supper!"
"What?" Harry cried out. "But it's not fair!"
"Yes, it is," Lady Willow said with a serious face. She tugged at their hands again. "Now, come on!"
John had no choice but to obey.
Later, after he had his afternoon classes of fencing and bow and arrow-ing, John sat on his bed as he thought of the other boys playing in the gardens during their leisure time and how jealous he was of them.
He had his arms crossed, pouting, as he pondered on how unfair everything was. He was defending Charlie from Harry and yet, he was also punished. That was not fair. Not fair at all.
Lady Willow said they could be released from their punishment if they apologized to each other with feelings, but both he and Harry refused. He was not sorry for defending his best friend and he would have as many leisureless days as it took to do so. Charlie was his best friend.
The door to his chambers creaked open and he didn't stop staring at the ceiling, or rather the roof of his bed. Then, his curiosity won out and John sneaked a peek at the person coming his way.
It was Lady Willow with a soft smile on her face. She sat on the bed beside him, looking at him with a very motherly expression.
"Your Highness, I know why you did what you did," she said. "Defending Master Howard was an honourable action, but to hurt Lord Lincoln was the wrong choice to make."
John looked at the roof again. "Harry is stupid," he said, "And I will not let him treat Charlie like that."
She chuckled before her face sobered up. "Harry made a mistake," she murmured. "Would you like to be shoved around whenever you make a mistake?"
He continued pouting before her words finally made sense in his head. Then, he sighed and shook his head.
"No," he admitted in a low voice.
"Exactly," Lady Willow said. "John, you are older than Harry and one day, you will be his king. You need to teach him the true Christian way, because otherwise, by hurting him, you lose your ground and your morals."
John nodded. He bit his lips, tears bubbling in his eyes. "Lady Willow?" he called out softly.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"Do you still love me?"
Lady Willow smiled. "Of course, I do, Your Highness," she said. "There's nothing in this world that would keep me from loving you."
More at ease, John nodded and accepted the kiss she placed atop his head. Lady Willow left after a moment and he was alone once more until the door creaked open again and Charlie's head popped inside.
"John?" he called out in a loud whisper. "I brought some plums from the kitchens."
The Prince giggled and sat up, calling out for his friend and Charlie ran to the bed, exposing the sugared plums he was hiding on his shirt.
After they ate, the two boys fell asleep on the bed, holding hands.
John is so precious and must be protected. At. ALL. Costs.
Also, adorable
Awww John is such a good boy, I hope he grows to have the best qualities of Henry and Catherine, a pious warrior king 😍. He definitely has the sense of justice a king needs as well, and I love his friendship with Charlie, brilliant chapter!
It really is. This friendship will basically define John's entire adult life.
The Empire's Nobles, if they have Nobles, will most likely be Outraged
I don't think he ever connected the dots between John being his cousin, the son of his uncle, the prince of wales and John being the king's eldest son.
Just a young child, the conclusions I drew around that age were often rather bizarre, and I turned out alright
I'm sure historians will refer to John and Charlie as the best of friends
